Order of the British Empire
[2] It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female.[2] From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients.The first investiture took place at Ibrox Stadium, as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment of Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde as a GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and the award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker.In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from a burning building containing explosives.[5] In 1993 the Prime Minister, John Major, instituted a reform of the honours system with the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that the distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'.[15] In the 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility: with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service.In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary: the former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award.Since the Second World War, several Commonwealth realms have established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals.In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state; these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title of Sir or Dame.From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918.Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on a broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip.The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge.This medal is nicknamed "the Gong",[30] and comes in both full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and semi-formal black-tie occasions.A lapel pin for everyday wear was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of the British Empire Medal.Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title Sir (unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive the accolade (they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append the post-nominal letters; dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use the title Dame.An individual can symbolically renounce their honour by returning the insignia to Buckingham Palace and ceasing to reference their title.[34] For instance, John Lennon returned his MBE insignia in 1969 as a form of protest, but the honour was not formally annulled and remained officially in place.[35] In 2003, The Sunday Times published a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, including David Bowie, John Cleese, Nigella Lawson, Elgar Howarth, L. S. Lowry, George Melly, and J. G.[37] Benjamin Zephaniah, a British poet of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality".[39][40] In 2019, comedian John Oliver turned down an offer of an OBE, which would have been part of the Queen's New Year's Honours list.[37] Chin Peng, a veteran guerrilla fighter of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army, was appointed as an Officer for his role in fighting against the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II, in close co-operation with the British commando Force 136.
CBE (disambiguation)OBE (disambiguation)monarch of the United KingdomOrder of chivalryBritish nationalsCommonwealth realmsCharles IIIQueen CamillaMedal of the Order for GallantryRoyal Victorian Ordercivil serviceBritish Empire MedalGeorge VGrand CrossKnight CommanderBritish honours systemGarterThistleSt PatrickOrder of the BathOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of the Star of IndiaOrder of the Indian EmpireBritish Indian EmpireFirst World WarIbrox StadiumAlexander Ure, 1st Baron StrathclydeEmpire Gallantry MedalGeorge CrossGeorge MedalQueen's Gallantry Medalcoronation of King George VIBritanniaribandGrand MasterForeign OfficeColonial OfficeIndia OfficeDominions OfficeSouth AfricaSt Paul's CathedralCommonwealthsystems of honoursOrder of CanadaAustralian Honours System1989 Queen's Birthday Honoursits own honoursNew Zealand Order of MeritJohn MajorLord Mayor of LondonImperial Service OrderCommonsselect committeeQueen Elizabeth II's Diamond JubileeBritish sovereignEdward, Prince of WalesQueen MaryPrince Philip, Duke of EdinburghBishop of LondonSarah MullallyDean of St Paul'sex officioAndrew TremlettCentral Chancery of the Orders of KnighthoodSecretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil ServiceChris WormaldKing of ArmsSimon MayallLady Usher of the Purple RodAmelia FawcettPermanent Secretary to the TreasuryCollege of ArmsheraldicOrder of the GarterBlack RodHouse of LordsOrders, decorations, and medals of the Commonwealth realmsAntigua and BarbudaThe BahamasBelizeCook IslandsGrenadaPapua New GuineaSaint Christopher and NevisSaint LuciaSolomon Islandshead of stateTerry WoganOrder of Wearposthumouslycircletsea-lionscoronationscollar dayslapel pinHayden Phillipsribbon barsOrder of precedence in England and Walescoat of armsChurch of EnglandChurch of Scotlandaccoladepost-nominal lettersorder of precedenceheraldic supportersChristopher LeaverAnthony JolliffeAlexander GrahamAir Chief MarshalPatrick HineBill WrattenAir Officer Commanding-in-ChiefRAF Strike CommandStephen BrownPresident of the Family DivisionAnthony BagnallVice-Chief of the Defence StaffMichael PerrySenior Salaries Review BodyRonnie FlanaganChief ConstablePolice Service of Northern IrelandElizabeth Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-SlossGeneralTimothy Granville-ChapmanMervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury